Contributed by Julia Couzens / Carol Saft’s plainspoken exhibition, “Fallen Men,“ in the project space at Lesley Heller, is a suite of small-scaled, wall-based bronze figures engaged in gestures of vulnerability and support. They call to mind the bronze sculpture of Bauhaus artist Gerhard Marcks and share his ethic of directness and material honesty.
Hilma af Klint: A timely message from the beyond
Contributed by Emma Stolarski / At the Guggenheim, Hilma af Klint’s paintings present themselves one by one, up the spiral ramp, just as she had dreamt in her sketches over 100 years ago. Her visionary drawing, Paintings for the Temple, was created during a session with her spiritual guides. She led a spiritually rich life and … read more… “Hilma af Klint: A timely message from the beyond”
David Humphrey: Facile like a fox
Contributed by Jonathan Stevenson / It might be tempting to conclude that David Humphrey is too facile a painter for his own damn good – that his command of brush, surface, and pigment across a spectrum from representational to abstract is so assured, his vision so pristinely and confidently realized on the canvas, that he leaves little … read more… “David Humphrey: Facile like a fox”
Robert Yoder on slowing down the process
Contributed by Sharon Butler / I met Robert Yoder at a fair in Miami a few years back, and, since we have a similar aesthetic, he invited me to show some work at SEASON, the gallery he runs out of his beautiful mid-century modern home in Seattle. This month Yoder has a solo at frosch & portmann, on view through April … read more… “Robert Yoder on slowing down the process”
Sangram Majumdar’s super power
Contributed by Sharon Butler / Many of Sangram Majumdar’s new paintings made of echoing lines, exposed charcoal under-drawings, and pale, often flat, unmodulated, color seem to quiver with expectation. According to the essay that accompanies his solo at Geary Contemporary, Majumdar’s starting point was an 18th-century illustration of the Ramayana, one of two ancient epic Sanskrit … read more… “Sangram Majumdar’s super power”
Korean monochrome: Suh Seung Won
Contributed by Raphael Rubinstein / Among the most welcome developments of the past few years in the U.S. art world has been the appearance, long delayed, of substantial numbers of works by two avant-garde groups of the 1960s and 1970s, the Tansaekhwa painters of Korea, often referred to as Korean monochromatic painters, and the Supports/Surfaces … read more… “Korean monochrome: Suh Seung Won”
A Pocket Guide to Painting at SPRING/BREAK Art Show
Contributed by Fay Sanders and Bob Szantyr / New York art fair season is here, and SPRING/BREAK, in its eighth year, has mounted another bold and energized display of contemporary art in an unexpected space. The new location, in a United Nations building, hosts a six-day presentation of work by over 400 artists. More than 100 curators have taken a shot at the timely theme “Fact … read more… “A Pocket Guide to Painting at SPRING/BREAK Art Show”
Interview: Magalie Guérin’s multiple endings
Contributed by Sangram Majumdar / Last weekend Magalie Guérin and I met up at her current exhibition, SOLUTE at Chapter NY, to talk shop. We discussed the choices painters make, how paintings are sometimes like people, how colors from the past return unexpectedly, whether marks can be categorized as nouns or verbs, and the importance of looking deeply. Her exhibition … read more… “Interview: Magalie Guérin’s multiple endings”
Leslie Wayne: Burning down the house
Contributed by Sharon Butler / Now in her mid-60s, Leslie Wayne has had several impressive shows at Jack Shainman, but the work in her current exhibition, on view through March 30, exceeds its predecessors in conceptual confidence, mastery of materials, and even an impressive swelling of imagination. She has scaled up the size of her … read more… “Leslie Wayne: Burning down the house”
Judy Pfaff: Busting pictures to hell
Contributed by Jason Andrew / De Kooning once said, “Every so often a painter has to destroy painting.” Cezanne did it. Picasso did it. Then there was Pollock. As de Kooning put it, he “busted our idea of a picture to hell.” And after him came Judy Pfaff. Ever since her three-wall breakout show in … read more… “Judy Pfaff: Busting pictures to hell”